The learning curve is not steep, and it will save you a lot of trouble.
Many academic institutions will have in-house statisticians that can perform analyses but be aware that they are hot commodities and it can take some time for them to get to your project. Knowing the basics of programs such as R or SPSS can help you run your own statistics, analyze your own data and create your own graphs/charts for publication.
3 Keep a journal During IR residency interviews,
you must be able to show that you actually understand the research you’re working on, and can articulate how you contributed and what you learned from the experience. They understand that you are just a medical student, and they do not expect you to know the details of the IR research landscape; that is their job to teach you in residency. Rather, they care more that you demonstrate qualities of commitment, teamwork and being a finisher (i.e., publication), all of which are essential components of being a good resident.
With that being said, if you are fortunate enough to have a bountiful number of projects listed on your CV, it can be difficult to recall something you did 3 years ago during MS1. Keep a journal of your research contributions during medical school and the MS4 ERAS version of you will thank your past self.
4 What’s the goal? It is important to define the
goals of a project with your mentor. For example: what conference/journal are you submitting to? Is there a deadline for abstracts for that conference? Will this project be presented as a poster or oral presentation? Defining these goals early on will help you develop a plan of attack instead of blindly collecting data. This will also be a good opportunity to get to know the major conferences in your specialty (SIR, CIRSE, RSNA and SIO for IR conferences).
Another important point that is often overlooked is defining authorship. This can get quite political, and it is not unheard of a student to do a large amount of work on a project, only to be listed as third author. Advocate
for yourself early with your mentor and define where you will end up on the author list for a project. Getting your name on any publication is great, but being the first author holds a tremendous amount of weight because it shows that you took full ownership of the project.
5 Mindset Most medical students did not
apply to medical school to do research, or else they would have pursued a PhD. The honest truth is that most medical students are using research as a means to an end, and that end is matching into the residency program of their choice. This mindset is often the culprit for the negative feelings towards research during medical school. Needless to say, it is very easy to get discouraged when you have to balance hours of chart review with pre-clinical exam/shelf studying after a long day of lecture or clinical duties. However, as the old saying goes, the only two things you can control are your attitude and effort. Instead of seeing research as a chore, try to see it as another learning opportunity. What does it actually take to get an article published in a peer- reviewed journal? How do the politics of academia influence research? What are
the big trials done in IR that influence the way we practice today? None of this is taught in medical school, but these lessons are just as important to learn and can give you an advantage as both a resident and an attending. In short, having a more positive and productive attitude towards research can be a powerful educational tool. Research is not everything, but it is becoming more important in this age of pass/fail academics. Hopefully these five points can give you tangible ways to either start or improve your research career as a medical student.
irq.sirweb.org | 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
